


Bump in The Night

by mikisupreme



Category: IT (2017), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Almost Kiss, Comfort, Cuddling & Snuggling, Emotional Baggage, Emotional Hurt, Friendship/Love, Halloween, Healing, Hurt/Comfort, I'm Bad At Tagging, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-01
Updated: 2018-11-01
Packaged: 2019-08-14 07:34:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16488359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mikisupreme/pseuds/mikisupreme
Summary: Richie Tozier shows up in Eddie's bedroom on Halloween soaking wet and acting weird. Eddie is determined to find out what's going on.





	Bump in The Night

**Author's Note:**

> HI!!! I've missed writing for my boys! This is a oneshot to kind of dip my toes back into writing these characters. I really hope you enjoy! 
> 
> written for itfandomprompts on tumblr. (:

                   SMACK!

       The little taps the rocks produced on the window was enough to rouse a very sleepy Eddie Kaspbrak from his bed. He rubbed at his puffy eyes and turned his face to glance at his clock, which read that it was three in the morning. He nearly fell from the bed as he shrugged off his blankets and tumbled over to the shiny latch of his window. He crouched down, though he already knew damn well who it would be, and cupped his hands around his weary eyes.

   “Richie, I swear to god,” Eddie muttered to himself as his fingers fumbled with the latch. It opened with a small squeak as Richie pushed it open and dropped down into the room. The harsh breeze of October air grazed Eddie’s cheeks as his curtains began to blow wildly. “Oh shit!” Eddie squeaked as he hurried to quietly shut the window. “God, is it storming out here? Did you walk here in a storm?” He prattled on like a concerned mother as he neatly smoothed back his curtains. Richie chuckled as he shrugged off his converse. Eddie cringed as thick black mud painted his wooden floors.

   “Nice to see you too, Eds!” Richie greeted as he spun around on his socked feet. His rainbow pullover was soaked to each thread as he scratched at his mane of curls. He popped his neck as he stretched out like a cat. “Happy Halloween, Eddie Spaghetti,” he said. Eddie pursed his lips as he took in the other boy’s truly disheveled appearance. Without really thinking, he whipped around to his closet and grabbed the largest shirt and shorts he owned. He quickly tossed them over his shoulder and heard the sound of shuffling as Richie grabbed it up. “You’re the love of my life!” He said in a low whistle as he ripped the soaked pullover over his head. Eddie felt his cheeks stain themselves a crimson color.

   “You do know it’s three in the morning, right?” Eddie huffed out as he turned back around. Despite being the biggest pair of clothing he owned; Richie practically looked like the Green Giant in a crop top. He snorted loudly as he twirled the obscenely short shirt around his fingers.

   “Think Mrs. K will dig the look?” He asked with a wiggle of his thick eyebrows. Eddie snorted and pushed him playfully in the chest. “Oof! Watch it, killer,” Richie whined as he pouted like a little kid.

   “Really, Rich,” Eddie pressed on as he flicked on his bedside lamp, “why are you here so late?” Richie exhaled hard through his nose as he sat down on the left side of the bed. The mattress squeaked loudly as he pressed down into it. “Richie?” Eddie asked, though slightly more insistently.

   “Just…” Richie trailed off as he stared down at his fuzzy neon green socks. “Just wanted to be the first person to celebrate Halloween with you,” he said with a confident, but goofy, grin. Eddie didn’t consider himself to be stellar -sometimes not even good- at reading people, but he knew Richie. In fact, he would sometimes say that, yeah, he knew Richie a little too well. He knew him well enough to know that boy was about as open as a locked chest. “Wanna tell spooky stories?  _Or sexy ones_ , your pick,” he yawned as he made himself at home in Eddie’s small bed.

   “Your hair is going to soak the pillows!” Eddie whined as he settled down beside him. Richie shook his hair out like a wet dog in response. “You asshole,” he giggled as droplets of water splashed onto his freckled cheeks. The hard rain outside groaned against the side of the house and echoed into every corner of the room. For a few moments, Eddie was sure that Richie had drifted off into a peaceful slumber.

 

                                    Then the thunder came.

   Richie trembled with each quiet clap from the outside. The claps of thunder gradually became louder— almost a guttural roar. Eddie watched as Richie tried to hide the way he shook like a dead leaf on a tree, just barely hanging onto the branch. From under the covers, his hand found his way to Richie’s shoulder and lightly squeezed.

   “I’m cool, Eds,” Richie assured through his shivers. “Mother Nature can’t do shit to me!” The broad smile on his face shattered as the thunder made itself known once more. He jumped into Eddie’s chest and tickled the shorter boy’s chin with his hair. The damp locks rested against Eddie’s cheeks as he wrapped his arms tight around Richie. Was this why he came over tonight? A long beat of silence punctuated every boom of thunder. Every hammered motion of Eddie’s heart against his chest seemed achingly loud as he cradled his best friend. He held onto him like a safety rope, like a lifeboat in which he’d find refuge.

   “Do you ever think about it?” Richie whispered, his usually cheery tone had morphed into something cold and small. Eddie bit down hard enough on his lip that he began to taste blood. His heart did more than just hammer now—it pounded relentlessly. The inhaler tucked away in his dresser had never seemed more attractive.

   “Think about what?” He lied easily as his eyes squeezed shut. The tears, the blood, and the screams of so many people he held dear. Noises from the pit of hell itself planted roots behind his eyes and tunneled into his deepest thoughts. The groan of disgust that slipped from his mouth at the thought of a shambling, broken leper was too audible to take back. Richie made a gasp against his chest and buried in closer.

   “You think about IT, too?” He had asked it like a scared child. This wasn’t the same Richie who made Voices, not the same Richie who could always pick someone up when they needed it. “I get nightmares all the time,” Richie started as his fingers curled around the hem of Eddie’s shirt, “and IT’s always there. IT always…” He shook his head as a broken sob left his throat. The thunder made them both shake profusely this time. Eddie felt his tongue dry up in his mouth and he didn’t know what to say. “I won’t ever let it get you, Eds,” Richie promised. “I’ll kill it a thousand fucking times over to protect you.” The moon drifted through the window and landed upon Richie’s face. His glasses hung almost entirely off his nose as he squinted down at Eddie’s face. Eddie shook his head and nervously, gently, raised a hand to the taller boy’s tearstained cheeks.

   “You don’t have to protect me, Richie,” Eddie assured him as he wiped a tear. “I’ll be around for a long time, I promise.”

Richie stared at him through heavy eyes and skin that smelled like the smoke of his favorite cigarettes.

   “I know how strong you are, Eds,” he said with a watery laugh as he traced Eddie’s face, “you hold us together.” Eddie giggled from the sensation and crinkled his nose up. The rain outside, while still hard, had lessened from the unrelenting previous assault.

   “I do not!” Eddie said through a chuckle as he scooted away from another tickle. “You’re always making us laugh, and keeping Bill sane.” Richie let out a puff of air and finally pushed his glasses back onto his nose.

   “You don’t give yourself enough credit,” he said as he leaned his face into his hand, “you navigated for all of us. We wouldn’t have made it without you.” Eddie watched the way Richie’s eyes sparkled in the darkness and the way his chest rose up and down like a wave that crashed to shore. He let his hand trail its way up to those spiral curls without any guilt.

   “Maybe we both need each other,” Eddie whispered as he curled his fingers around Richie’s hair. The grin he got in response sent his heart all the way up into his throat. “Don’t look at me like that, you creep,” he quipped. Richie blinked slowly and inched his way closer to Eddie’s face.

   “Wanna know what I need, Eds?” He almost purred as his eyes drifted between Eddie’s eyes and lips. He leaned in to meet Richie’s gaze without even thinking about it—their mouths merely a breath away from each other. Eddie tightened his hold on Richie’s hair and breathed heavily.

   “What?” He asked breathlessly as he squeezed his eyes shut.

                                          Silence.

   Eddie opened one eye in slight annoyance. “Richie?” He huffed quietly. “Are you  _fucking with_ —”

 _Oh._  A small giggle escaped his mouth as he watched Richie snore away on the pillow right next to Eddie’s head. He looked peaceful like that, his curls all spread out like a makeshift halo of browns and blacks. Eddie was sure that if you would have looked up the definition of beautiful in the dictionary, a sleeping Richie Tozier would be plastered dead center. The pillow was cold and soft as he settled down next to Richie and closed his eyes. Their hands somehow had found each other in the darkness and slotted together perfectly. The rain had softened to a drizzle, just enough to lull an exhausted Eddie back to sleep.

   “You know that I…I  _need_  you more than you know,” Eddie mumbled sleepily as he felt his eyes drift shut.

 


End file.
